River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1887-12-15
a nnsw woRLp. OPENED.


rhs Completed Railroad COnnect ioa Be-
tween Helena. Mont. aud st. Paul and
MinneapoIs, MInn.-EnthusiastIc Views
OF ST. Paul Paper.
The st. Paul aud Minneapolis Pioneer
Press Of a recent date editorially sends
greeting TO the city of Helena, Mont,
over the completion to the latter point
Of the railroad line (the St. Paul
Minneapolis & Manitoba) which brings
that city in direct communication with
Minneapolis and ST. Paul. and thus
with the more eastern sections of the
country. Speaking of the region
traversed by this new route. the
Pioneer Press says:
The fact is that there has been
added = hew empire, as fair as any
upon which the sun shines. to the ter
ritory naturally tributary to this
point Lying out of the path of over
land travel. sheltered far to the north
in its secluded valleys. the country
trayersed by the new line of the Mani
toba road Is yot comparatively a terra
iRcogntta to q but a Jew who have
looked upon its fairness. They have
heard vague reports of the mildness of
its climate, the fertility of its soil. its
productive capacities and the possibili-
ties that lie before il. But the reality
has been understood only by those
whose enterprise has seen the CONNER
rial necessity and the commercial adj
vantage of bridging this vast stretch
with the iron highway of commerce.
Along the whole of the immense line
which penetrates from Devils Lake 10
Great Falls, there is not a mile of ter
ritOry which is incapable of practical
utilization for tillage or for grazing.
Over the great prairie. through the
magnificent valley of the Milk river,
and on TO the mountains, the traveller
tolls Through lands of richness unsur-
passed. his eye rests not upon the
brown and dusty soil of an arid cline.
but on the soft green turf which covers
alluvium where unreaped harvests and
ungathered wealth lie in store for the
husbandman. He is in the zone where
the ink-black virgin soil promises in
exhaustible returns for tillage. He il
where the kindly isotherms that bend
upward insure him IA climate as mild
as any in the Northwest, and more
equable than most. He is in a region
where mois, winds distill the frequent
showers that bless the agriculture of
the fortunate among our old COM
munities. He travels through eoun-
try which. to the eye, is in no way in
ferior to the Red river valley that has
given fame and wealth to Minnesota
and Dakota In these immense
stretches, whose virtues the settler has
already begun to appreciate. there Is
room for crowded population In
the valleys there are grazing grounds
for herds that would feed continent.
1t is impossible to convey in languag
that shall be free from the suspicion
exaggeration any idea of the resources
of the new world now open to the over
flowing populations of older commune
ties and of older worlds. 1t may re-
duce CONGRATULATIONS more nearly to the
limit of the tangible to say that the
country adapted to occupation which
is now put in immediate communiea-
ton with the outer world is greater in
area than the entire State of Indiana;
and that i equals. if it docs not sur
pass in productive qualities, any other
Territory within the United States.
When the mountains are entered. the
promise of the fields yields to allure
ments of different character. These
hills are penetrated with veins of gold
end silver and lead. There is no means
of estimating the available mineral re-
sources of the portions of Montana di-
rect reached FIcm their stores our
supply of precious and useful metals
may be almost indefinitely recruited.
Underneath the plains surrounding
and underlying Great Falls there is
bed of bituminous coal of unknown ex-
tent. excellent for mining and manu-
featuring purposes, and some of it
possessing first-ciass cooking qualities.
And at this point there is reached
what is probably the greatest available
water power in North America, with
an estimated capacity of perhaps 200.-
600 horse